Japanese Martial Arts Association (JMMA)
The Japanese Martial Arts Association organizes all national tournaments, professional and amateur dojos, and professional and amateur fighters. They are among the most influential Martial Arts Associations in the world along with the CMAA, USMMA, BMMA, NMMA. Like other martial arts associations, the JMMA organize and fund national tournaments, professional dojos, and professional fighters. They are lead by the Emperor and the Ten Tigers. The types of professinal individual tournaments that the JMMA run are divided into two age categories: Senior and Junior. Senior tournaments are tournaments that are open to all professional fighters over the age 15. Senior tournaments are approved competitions that can give monetary awaards and can change the ranking of Japanese professional fighters. Junior Tournaments are competitions that only accept fighters 18 and under. They tend to have more safety rules and regulations. Dojo Championship The Dojo Grand Tournament a Dojo team bracket tournament. The Dojo Grand Tournament is held after the Dojo League season ends. The League season is when all Dojos in Japan will compete in a round robin by traveling to Dojos and hosting their own. The League season is only open to Professional Dojos. The League Season gets many viewers since it is the easiest way to see new fighters shine. The Dojos enter base on their performance during the season and are put in brackets that are split between the north and south parts of Japan. tI is considered the most prestigious title in Japan, despite not affecting individual rankings. This is due to the amount of publicitiy the Dojo gets internationally. Senior Dan Tournaments The Senior DanTournaments are four very prestigious annual individual Mixed Martial Arts tournaments. They are the four biggest individual fighting tournaments in Japan. The four are held in different major Japanese cities, each named after the host city: Kyoto Dan, Tokyo Dan, Osaka Dan, and Sapporo Dan. There are three ways to qualify for the limited space: The 75% ranked fighters automatically make it, but they can cancel at least a week before the tournament; the bottem 25% fight in a mini-tournament with non-ranked professional fighters and the top 16 make it; the last way is too be recommended by the Emperor or the Council of Senseis. The Senior Dan Tournaments have a huge impact on national rankings. The top 16 in the tournament are eligble to rank change. While all tournaments have equal weight in awards, rank change, and rules, the Kyoto Dan is the unofficial most prestige belt due to it being the oldest of the Senior Dan tournaments and generally having the largest amount of competition. Regional Regional Tournaments are small tournaments that open in small cities or big cities. There are at least 124 regional tournaments in Japan. The top 3 winners have a chance in getting a rank change but this usually applies to lower ranked fighters. Thus, the top 30 fighters rarely do these fights since Regional tournaments don't really affect their rankings. Regional tournaments are open to all fighters to register. Under Black Under Black tournaments are competitions that only accept under Black Belt Fighters. The purpose of these tournaments is to help stur competition at the early stages of a fighter. They also attempt to balance the fighting level by having non-Black Belts compete only. Under Black are open to all fighters of any age so long as they are not Black Belts. These tournaments do not affect rankings. Junior Tournaments In the Junior Division, there is a Junior Dojo Championship that is held every year. All Dojos that have a Junior team compete with randomized bracket rounds. A Dojo cannot have a team compete in the League season and the Junior team tournament.